


Worlds Upon Worlds of Wonder

by Normal_Bathtub



Category: Mianite - Fandom, Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Copious amounts of exposition, Empath Toby Smith | Tubbo, Everyone Needs A Hug, Gen, Gods & Goddesses, Hurt/Comfort, Jordan Maron is Toby Smith | Tubbo's father, Toby Smith | Tubbo Needs a Hug, Toby Smith | Tubbo-centric, Worldbuilding, treebo, tubbo in a box but its a tree
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-18 19:33:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29248836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Normal_Bathtub/pseuds/Normal_Bathtub
Summary: Tubbo has always been a little different, not even considering his unconventional adoption when he was younger. He's survived revolutions, attempted executions, wars, and now he's the president of a land that seems cursed, holding a position in a nation that may be doomed to fail. He's already had to exile his best friend, and the pressure is only building higher and higher. Plus, a bunch of people from another dimension just fell from the sky.Wait, what?
Relationships: Jordan Maron & Toby Smith | Tubbo, Toby Smith | Tubbo & TommyInnit, Toby Smith | Tubbo & Wilbur Soot & Technoblade & TommyInnit & Phil Watson
Comments: 14
Kudos: 236





	1. Prologue

Jordan would like to say that he was an experienced adventurer. He had spent much of his life exploring the world, first on the road with his parents, and then by himself, and later on a ship with his crew. He had worked hard to become a captain, and he led his ship well, finding treasures and new lands and people. He had even met the woman who would give him his son, Toby, or as he preferred, Tubbo.

  
Jordan had made many friends along his travels. Unfortunately for him, he had made his fair share of enemies as well.

  
On the night his whole life veered strangely off course, he had been visiting the two graves at the top of the giant tree that he’d made into his home. He’d already visited the grave of Jerry, the slime that was the tree’s namesake. Now, he had made his way to the highest branches of the tree, and he stood in front of the other headstone that was housed by the tree.

  
He quietly set down new flowers at the grave, breathing in deeply and closing his eyes. If he was quiet enough, he sometimes thought he could still hear her laughing.

  
He stayed there for a short while, simply resting for a peaceful moment, before he heaved another sigh and opened his eyes. Looking out upon the land around the tree, he felt a small smile come upon his face. If there was one thing that he would never get tired of, it was the view from up here.

  
It was as he was looking out over the dark and quiet forest that he saw them. There were small lights, almost like fireflies, moving through the forest. The smile slowly slipped off of his face as he saw them, confused. At first, he thought they were just some rare mob, but as the number of lights multiplied, he dismissed the idea. And then, he realized that they were all moving towards his tree.

  
As they got closer, the source of the lights became clearer. Torches. Dozens of them. And all being carried by people dressed in dark clothing, marching towards his tree. This could mean nothing good.

  
Jordan rushed from the upper branches, making his way down the tree towards his own room. As he made his way down the tree, he watched as the people came closer and closer, hefting their torches above their heads. He didn’t recognize them, but with the amount of people he had angered over the years, he could infer what it was they wanted from him.

  
It was as he finally reached his own sleeping chambers that they finally reached the tree. He grabbed his sword from the corner of his room, not sparing the time to put on armor. When he flung his door open again, it was to two dark, winged figures standing in front of him, diamond swords gleaming in their hands.

  
The other thing about living a life of adventure, he mused as he lifted his own weapon, was that you didn’t last as long as he had if you didn’t know how to fight back.

***

Tubbo was woken from his dreams by his father shaking him. “Tubbo, bud, I need you to wake up,” was the first thing he heard. As he cracked open his eyes, awareness coming back to him, he began to hear other things too. Faint yelling, strange thumping, the crackling of wood.

  
Opening his eyes, the first thing that he saw was his father’s face, red frames slightly skewed and eyes wide. His brows were furrowed, but they relaxed slightly as Tubbo began to wake up. Rubbing his eyes, he yawned tiredly as his father brought him into his arms, picking him up and turning quickly to the door.

  
As his father rushed through their home, Tubbo began to truly wake up, a shock of fear running through him as he noticed the sword in his father’s hand, the cuts on his white shirt, and the shock of red running down his forehead. His breathing was heavy, and his eyes were hardened and focused, flickering back and forth as he ran.

  
“What’s goin’ on?” he asked, his small fist clutching the bee plush his father had given to him. His father paused in his running, slowing down and looking down at him, molding his face into a strained but reassuring smile. “It’s all gonna be ok, little bee, but I need you to listen to me, alright?” Tubbo nodded, showing his dad that he was listening as he went on. “You know how I always tell you stories about my adventures and my friends? Well, there are also some people who don’t like me very much, and if they find us, they’re going to hurt us. So we need to get out, and I need you to be very quiet for me. Can you do that?”

  
Tubbo nodded, putting on a serious face. He was scared, but he could be brave, just like his dad was. His dad smiled, bigger and more genuine this time, even despite the still too serious set of his eyes. “Alright, let’s go,” his dad said, putting him down and taking his hand in his empty left one, nodding back.

  
The two of them moved out of the room, more carefully this time. As they moved as quickly and stealthily as they could through the halls and balconies, Tubbo began to smell the acrid scent of smoke, and sometimes he could see the glow of fire beneath them, or feel the heat wafting up from below them. If he listened closely, he could hear shouting, much louder than it had been when he was in his room.

  
As they descended, tubbo quickly realized that they weren’t going to make it all the way to the bottom of the tree, at least not safely. Even if there wasn’t a fire raging beneath them, there were still the people who had come and set the house on fire in the first place.

  
“Dad,” he said softly, squeezing his father’s hand, “where are we going to go?” His father turned to look at him briefly before continuing on. “There are people waiting for us downstairs, and we can’t get out the front door, so we’re going to take a different way out.”

  
His father led them to one of the balconies, overlooking a thick branch about midway down the tree. “I know it’s not the normal way, or the safest, but beggars can’t be choosers. Alright, over the railing you go.”

  
His dad hefted Tubbo up and over the balcony railing, setting him down on the branch. He quickly followed over himself, grabbing onto Tubbo’s free hand again as they began moving again, making their way towards the edges of the branches, where the fire hadn’t spread yet.

  
As his dad was helping him down the branches towards the ground, he heard the balcony door slam open behind them. Looking back at where they’d come from, he saw a group of strange people, clothed in black, each holding their own sword. He could tell when the people spotted them, because there was a loud shout of “Over there!” and they all began to scramble over the railing.

  
Tubbo startled as he was swept quickly into his father’s arms. Caution thrown to the wind, he ran, jumping across branches and towards the awaiting ground. Tubbo could only watch in fear as the number of people following them only increased, their swords and torches gleaming.

  
Tubbo heard his father grunt as he finally hit solid ground, rolling to help absorb the impact from jumping off the low hanging branches. As soon as he regained his feet, he began to run, away from their home and into the forest. There was more noise from the strange people, from above and behind them. Shouts of 'Get them!' And 'Don’t let him get away!' as his dad ran through the trees.

  
All Tubbo could do was hide his face in his father’s jacket, looking up occasionally as his dad weaved through the tall, dark trees. He could feel his father’s heaving breath, the way that he was slowing down the further that they ran. How he began to stumble more over the dirt and the roots below his feet.

  
He realized that his dad wouldn’t be able to run forever. Even now he could hear the sound of yelling and feet tramping through the undergrowth moments behind them. It seemed that his father had realized this as well.

  
His dad skidded to a stop in front of a large oak tree, the bottom covered by lush hedges. The man pushed aside the bushes, revealing a hollowed out area in the thick trunk of the tree. He wasted no time in setting Tubbo down, shushing him when he began to cry out in confusion.

  
“Tubbo,” he told him, “I’m going to need you to be brave for me, ok? I know it’s scary, but I want you to wait and hide here until I come back for you, alright? And I need you to be very quiet, especially if you hear other people walking around. Can you do that for me?”

  
Tubbo, though teary eyed, nodded, clutching his bee plushie to his chest with both arms. His father smiled at him, and Tubbo could see tears in his own eyes past his red shades. “Okay. I love you, little bee, and I’ll come back for you as soon as I can, okay?” he said, leaning over and kissing his forehead.

  
He saw his father’s head turn as the footsteps and yelling became louder, eyes widening and the smile slipping off of his face. He turned back to Tubbo, nodding once before he let go of the brush in front of him, letting it fall back into place and cover up Tubbo’s hiding spot. It was only seconds later when he heard the shouts of the strange people.

  
“There he is!” one yelled, starting up a cacophony of unintelligible yelling as his father began to run. Soon after, Tubbo flinched back as the sound of yelling and running was right outside of his hiding spot, the people running past him. He cowered as the sound rose and rose, coming to a head. He covered his years as he heard the yelling and the screaming, the occasional clang of a sword hitting an overturned root or a metal shield, the crackling of their torches. He grit his teeth as they passed by him, unseen, and the noise fell once again, their voices fading into the night, alongside his father, and the life he’d had before.

***

It was morning when Phil had spotted the smoke. He and his boys were strolling through the forest, on their way back from a short trip. He had been looking for some enchanted books, and none of the towns nearby had had any to trade, so he had decided to make an adventure of it, bringing his kids along with him.

  
As they were walking in the early morning, almost back to their home, Phil was admiring the scenery when he saw it. Dark clouds rising off in the distance, coming from the middle of the dense forest area. As soon as he saw it, his wings ruffled, his hand moving towards where his sword was sheathed at his side.

  
“Techno, Wilbur,” he said, turning to the twins. “I need you to take Tommy back to the house and wait for me there. I’ll be right back, I’m just goin’ to check out this smoke over here, make sure that it’s not a forest fire or anything dangerous.”

  
Wilbur, ever the drama queen, began to complain, holding a confused-looking Tommy in his arms, but Techno nodded easily, grabbing his brother’s hand and continuing down the path. Phil gave a small sigh, smiling at his boys’ antics before he crouched down, using his strong wings to propel himself into the air and towards the source of the fire.

  
As he flew closer, he could see the source of all of the smoke. The burnt remains of what must have been a massive tree stood in the center of a small clearing. It was a miracle that none of the other trees around the clearing had caught, and it seemed that only this one giant tree had been aflame. It was weird, but Phil was willing to let it rest as some weird coincidence. That was, until he saw something strange on the ground beneath the tree’s canopy.

  
Landing on the ground, he walked below the large tree, picking up the remains of what seemed to be a torch.

  
If there was a torch, then that would mean that the tree was set aflame deliberately. But why? And by whom? Looking away from the torch and seeing the trail of footsteps and trampled grass that led into the forest, it seemed that there was only one way to find out.

  
He began following the trail, keeping a hand over his sword just in case he came across someone or something unfriendly in the forest. He could tell, from his many years of experience, that the trail was messily and hastily made, layers and layers of footsteps pressed overtop of each other, moving in many directions. Sometimes, the footsteps fanned out, but they always came back together eventually, moving in strange patterns but ultimately in one direction. There had been a large group, and from the looks of this, they had been looking for something or someone, or maybe even chasing it.

  
Though he hadn’t been through this forest much, he knew the lay of the land in this area well enough to know what the footsteps were headed towards. The land in this direction led to a large cliff face, high above the rest of the forest. If anything had been chased all the way there, he thinks solemnly, it must have been caught or killed at that point. Nothing without wings or magic could survive a fall from that height.

  
It was as he was deep in his thoughts that he heard something. At first, he thought it was just the crying of some animal. He was in the forest after all. But even despite the strange setting, he had been a father long enough to recognize the cries of a child.

  
Much more concerned than he was a few seconds ago, he picked up the pace, following the path and listening as the noises got louder. As he reached a more bushy area and pushed through the underbrush, the noise abruptly stopped, the cries coming from the area silencing. Even so, he could’ve sworn that they were coming from this area, or at least close by.

  
Worried, but knowing that this child was probably more scared than anything, he slowed his steps, taking a moment to look around. The path was as clear as ever, the footsteps all running through this area. But with a slow, thorough sweep and his own keen eyes (thank the gods for his hybrid traits), he was able to see a much smaller, almost unnoticeable trail of steps leading off to the side, towards a large oak tree surrounded by shrubbery.

  
Perhaps someone who was within the group had gone over to check the oak tree. However, what Phil hoped, and what was much more likely, was that whoever was being chased had made their own detour this way before they had continued running. From the looks of the footsteps, it seemed that they had been human as well.

  
Moving slowly towards the shrubs, he tried to keep his footsteps soft but noticeable, in fear of scaring whoever might be hiding in these bushes. Slowly, he knelt down, moving the bushes aside and looking at the trunk of the oak, which had been hollowed out, naturally or by someone else he couldn’t tell. What he could tell was that there was a small figure within the trunk, curled up as far away from the opening as possible, looking at Phil with wide, scared eyes.

  
It was a boy, young, probably not even five from the looks of him. He was small, and dirty, probably from sitting in this trunk for however long he had been there, and Phil could tell even from where he was kneeling that he was shaking. Even in the cool morning air, Phil knew that it probably wasn’t the temperature at fault for this, or at least not just the temperature. He could see that the boy was holding something small and soft to his chest, and upon closer inspection, he could see that there were yellow and black stripes running along it.

  
“Hello there,” he said, trying to keep his voice soft. Even then, the boy flinched slightly, his full attention on Phil. “You look a bit cold there, mate,” he told the boy, looking at the shivers that ran through his small shoulders. “Would it be ok if I gave you my sweater? I promise it's plenty warm,” he asked, slowly shuffling the item of clothing over his wings and off of his shoulders, holding it out slightly to the boy.

  
Phil watched as some of the fear in the boy’s eyes turned to confusion, and then faded away completely. They flickered from his sweater to his hand, up his arm to his wings, sitting passively behind him, then to his face, which he hoped was more calm and reassuring than he felt, and then finally back to his hand.

  
Slowly, with a trembling hand, the boy reached out towards the sweater, quickly snatching it back and watching Phil with wide eyes once again. Phil brought his hand back, making sure to keep it within the kid’s eyesight. Slowly relaxing once again, he placed the sweater on his own shoulders, swimming in the large, forest green thing.

  
Phil shifted slightly on his feet. “My name’s Phil,” he said, “what’s yours?”  
The kid was quiet for a while, eyes flickering back and forth, probably in contemplation. “Tubbo,” he said, voice soft and timid.

  
Phil smiled, relieved. If he was talking, that meant they were getting somewhere. “It’s very nice to meet you Tubbo. If you don’t mind me asking, what are you doing here in this tree?”

  
The boy was quiet for a moment, feet shuffling as he uncurled slightly, and hands still gripping his little toy. “My dad put me here to keep me safe,” he finally said after a little while of waiting, his voice still timid and shaky. “There were scary people following us, and they burned down our tree, and chased us out here. And my dad put me here and told me to hide until he came back to get me.”

  
Phil’s smile wavered. “How long have you been hiding, Tubbo?”

  
The boy looked down, his brows furrowing as he focused. “A long time,” he told Phil, “Since before the sun came up.”

  
Phil could feel the smile slipping off of his face as Tubbo spoke. The way that things had looked, it didn’t seem like the boy’s father had escaped his pursuers. The fact that the boy had been there so long basically confirmed his suspicions. It was likely that the man was either captured or dead by now.

  
He was broken out of his thoughts by a small sniffle. Looking over to Tubbo, he saw that there were tears forming in the boy’s eyes as he met them with his own. “My dad isn’t coming back, is he?”

  
Phil’s eyes softened, his frown only deepening as he shook his head. “No, mate, I don’t think he is.” Even if it would hurt him, he knew it was best not to lie to the child. It would only lead to more hurt later.

  
When Phil answered, the tears in Tubbo’s eyes flowed over, his soft sniffles turning into sobs. Phil’s own eyes began tearing up, listening to this little boy cry over his dead father.

  
“Tubbo,” he started, gaining the boy’s attention, “is it ok if I give you a hug?” He opened his arms, waiting for the kid’s permission before moving. In this case, it seems he didn’t need it, as after only a moment of contemplation, the kid launched himself into Phil’s arms, grasping desperately onto phil’s shirt as he sobbed openly.

  
Phil wrapped his arms around Tubbo, holding the crying boy for what felt like hours but must’ve only been a few minutes. When the sobbing finally quieted back down to sniffles, Tubbo took his tearstained face out of Phil’s shirt, keeping his eyes down as he rubbed at them.

  
“I know that we’ve only just met,” Phil said, “but I can give you a place to stay if you want. I have three of my own boys, one of them even around your age. What d’you say?”

  
Tubbo looked up at Phil with wide, red rimmed eyes. It only took him a moment to nod, ducking his head back into Phil’s chest as he began to pull back, out of Tubbo’s hiding spot and into the shade of the forest canopy. He carried Tubbo as he walked back the way he had come, following the path back towards the smoldering tree.

  
As they broke through into the clearing, out into the mid-morning sun, Phil saw Tubbo’s mop of brown hair turn to look at the tree briefly before turning back towards him. He sighed, trying to keep the kid’s smoldering home out of sight.

  
“Alright, Tubbo, I know we’ve been walking up until now, but my home is a bit far away from here, and we can’t walk all the way there.” Phil started, looking down at the boy, who looked back up at him curiously. “Have you ever flown before?” he asked, flaring his large grey wings behind him.

  
The kid’s eyes widened almost comically, looking from his wings back to his face before shaking his head, mouth almost dropping open. Phil smiled and tightened his grip on the boy before crouching lightly. “Well, I suggest you hold on tight, and close your eyes if you would like. It can be a little scary the first time, or so I’ve been told.”

  
The kid grabbed onto him, tucking his face back into his shoulder and his form tensing as Phil flapped his wings, pushing upwards and launching himself into the sky. As he soared above the treetops, away from Tubbo’s old home, he felt the boy slowly relax, moving his face away from his shoulder and looking around, taking in the scenery as they flew past. When he took a moment to look at the kid’s face, he saw his eyes wide with wonder, not quite smiling but no longer frowning. Phil smiled, turning his eyes away from him and towards home.

  
Moments later, they touched down on solid ground just outside of his own home, on the edge of a small village near a sparse patch of woods. Almost immediately after he touched down and furled his wings, the door burst open, the small blur of blonde hair and unending noise that was Tommy racing out towards them. He could see Wilbur, scolding Tommy but obviously just as excited, was not far behind, coming quickly down the steps behind him, and Techno, ever the stoic older brother, stood just outside of the doorway, curiously looking at his father and whatever he seemed to have bundled in his arms. Wilbur seemed to see it as well, his steps faltering for a moment before picking up once again, the curiosity in his eyes blooming. Tommy came to a screeching halt just in front of Phil, his talking actually stopping as he too seemed to realize that Phil hadn’t come back home empty handed.

  
“Boys, this is Tubbo,” he told the three, who turned to look at the bundle as it shifted, blue eyes peeking out at them. “His home was burnt down, so he’s gonna be staying with us for as long as he wants to, alright?”

  
They were silent for a moment, seemingly processing what he had just said. However, it didn’t last for long, as Tommy started jumping and yelling, effectively destroying the momentary peace and quiet. “Woah, that’s crazy! Is he gonna stay with us forever? He looks so small! I bet I’m older than him. How old are you?”

  
Tubbo blinked in the face of Tommy’s overwhelming enthusiasm before shakily holding up five fingers, at which Tommy’s smile fell. “Five? That’s no fair! He’s all short and stuff, he can’t be five!”

  
Phil chuckled as Tommy continued to rant, Wilbur eventually bringing up his own point (just because you're taller doesn't mean you're older. I'm younger than Techno, but I'm still taller than him!) which Techno rolled his eyes at before he turned around walking back into the house.

  
It seemed that everybody took that as their cue, Wilbur beginning to move back towards the door alongside Tommy, still arguing back and forth with the boy. Phil finally set Tubbo down on his own two feet, where he wobbled for a second before regaining his balance.

  
Before he could do anything, however, Tommy turned back, running towards him. "Even if you are smaller than me, and I'm a bigger man than you'll ever be, we're still gonna be best friends. We can be twins, like Wilbur and techno!"

  
Wilbur scoffed at that, rolling his eyes fondly. "To be twins, you have to be born at the same time, and you have to have the same parents, too. You guys don't even look alike!"

  
"Shut up!" Tommy yelled, walking towards the door and dragging a wide eyed but compliant Tubbo with him. "We are going to be better twins than you and Techno could ever be. Come on, Tubbo! I'll show you my room. It's the coolest!" With that, Tommy and Tubbo disappeared into the house, Wilbur and Phil following close behind.

  
And as Phil and his sons welcomed a new face into their home, a man with red sunglasses opened his eyes on a strange beach that he had never seen before.


	2. One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tubbo had always been good with emotions. He understood people and how they felt. It was just natural for him. But he didn’t realize how good with emotions he was until people started trying to hide them from him.

Ever since Phil had found him, he had been staying with his family, making himself more and more at home in the little village. Despite the hopes that his father would come back, looking for him, as the days and weeks and then months passed, he slowly stopped hoping for something that couldn’t be true. 

Even so, he couldn’t help but feel welcome in the little village. The villagers were nice, and he found that they were willing to give him little trinkets and such if he wandered around on market days. One of his favorite places was the bakery. They always had delicious treats to serve, and Wilbur’s friend Niki would sometimes slip him some of the ones that weren’t quite up to selling quality. Even so, Tubbo thought they tasted just as good as the ones that were out on the shelves. 

Even more so than the villagers, the Watson family themselves did a great deal in helping Tubbo feel welcomed. Phil was caring and patient, and he was always willing to teach the kids new things. Every so often, he would take them on walks through the woods, showing them the various plants and animals that they could spot through the foliage. Personally, Tubbo’s favorite was the bees that floated lazily outside of their hives, just on the edge of the forest. 

As Tubbo came to learn, Phil was an adventurer and survivalist, and a relatively well known one at that. He had largely settled down to take care of his kids, but there were times when he would leave, only for a few days at most, and he would bring back new treasures and new stories to tell. When he did leave, responsibility in the house fell onto the shoulders of the twins, Techno and Wilbur. 

Despite being twins, the two were very different from each other. Even with their looks. They were obviously related, but you could easily tell the two apart. The most obvious marker was Techno’s scar, right across the bridge of his nose. But you could also tell that Wilbur’s piglin features were far less pronounced than his brother’s, his tusks smaller and less noticeable unless he smiled, his nose a small bit rounder, and his ears not as long and pointed. Their personalities didn’t help the issue. 

Techno was dry, sarcastic, and intelligent. He excelled in combat. He could often be found with his glasses up on his nose, reading a book by the fire. When he got the chance, he took to sparring outside with his father, or on some occasions his younger brothers, though often those fights devolved into yelling and chaos quickly enough. 

One thing he didn’t excel at, Tubbo noticed, was interacting with other people. He often avoided talking to the villagers, tending to stick close to his brothers. When he did, however, it was awkward at best, his quiet and stoic character often coming off as intimidating. He wasn’t physically affectionate often, and came off as more of a loner. 

Despite his inability to show his love through kind words or meaningful touch, however, it was obvious that Techno cared deeply about his family. Tubbo could tell by the way that he carefully walked his younger brothers through different forms, teaching them slowly how to spar the right way. He could see how he cared in the way that he often made dinner for the three of them whenever Phil was gone, putting effort into his meals. He could tell that he cared when he would sit with his family in the living room, reading them a story while a fire blazed in the fireplace. Techno was odd, and he showed his love in weird ways, but there was no mistaking his love for his family.

Wilbur, on the other hand, seemed to have never ending charisma and wit. He often joked around with the younger boys, helping to keep them entertained and encouraging them to pull pranks and adventure around the village rather than trying to stop them. Many of the villagers knew him well, as he could be found walking around the village on market day, visiting stalls and saying hello to all of the people that he knew and who knew him back. He was especially fond of Niki, the baker’s daughter, and they would often talk to each other while she helped her mother in the bakery. 

Wilbur wasn’t nearly as good at combat as his older brother, but he had a magnetism that almost couldn’t be ignored. On days where he wasn’t talking with his friends or playing with his siblings, he could be found playing his guitar in town, sometimes for some extra coin, and sometimes just for the fun of it. He often amassed a crowd from the village, and he basked in the attention of it all. He was a performer, through and through. 

The thing about being a performer, as Tubbo would come to find out, was that Wilbur was good at putting on faces. He was Wilbur, the calm and put together street performer, and he was Wilbur, the kind young man who talked to the traders, and he was Wilbur, the rowdy kid who could be seen running from the crime scene of some practical joke. And even at home, he was Wilbur, the babysitter, and Wilbur, the instigator, and Wilbur, who told witty jokes. 

But what Tubbo loved most was when, at the end of the day, he would drop the facade, and he would just be Wilbur, the brother. When he would take his guitar, and he would sit, and he would play to them, and sing, and tell stories, and joke, and ruffle Tommy’s hair just to make him pout. Wilbur was a lot of things, but most of all, he was kind, and he was caring. 

Despite their differences, there were commonalities between Wilbur and Techno. The steadfast determination in their beliefs, the fire that drove both of them towards their goals. They were both intelligent, both smart and witty and capable. And though they showed it in different ways, they both cared deeply for the rest of their little family. 

Though Techno and Wilbur did a lot for Tubbo, he would be lying if he said that they were his favorites. Undoubtedly, Tubbo’s best friend was Tommy. 

If there was one thing that Tommy was, it was energetic. Loud noises and constant movement and endless questions that were only answered half the time anyways. Shop owners were known to roll their eyes fondly when Tommy ran by on Market day, hoping that they would be safe from the boy’s shenanigans for the day. Tommy was the instigator, and the prankster, and the adventurer, and he and Tubbo had been attached at the hip since the younger had dragged him up to his room the first time they met. 

If there was one thing that Tommy was, it was energetic, but Tubbo quickly came to learn that he was more than just that. He was caring, and friendly, and endlessly stubborn. It seemed that his energy applied to all of these aspects of himself too. He put all of himself into whatever he did, and Tubbo couldn’t help but admire him for it, even if it got him into a fair share of trouble. 

More than anything, he admired his family. They were his heroes, and he wanted to be just like them. He would spar with Techno, trying to learn how to hold a sword that was too big for his small, grimy hands. He would sit next to Wilbur and sing while he played guitar, and sometimes, he would try to strum a few chords himself, though they almost always came out a little off. When they went on walks in the forest with Phil, he would always ask questions, trying to identify each piece of flora and fauna that was pointed out to him. And no matter what they were doing, Tubbo was always right there next to him, joking and singing and laughing along. 

Despite not being related to them, these people were the closest thing that Tubbo had to a family after his father disappeared. 

***

Techno had always been strong, stronger than most, and he had taken to sword fighting and combat like a fish to water. Even more than that, he was _good_ at it. Really good.

When he was 12, he finally beat Phil in a spar. Tubbo remembers it, watching from the sidelines, cheering Techno on. He remembers the way he had swept Phil's feet out from under him, and how he'd held the point of the training sword to his chest, and the silence for moments after. Even Techno himself seemed surprised. But then, Tommy had shouted and run towards the pair, jumping and latching onto Techo, and effectively breaking the tension. They had all smiled and laughed about it then, congratulating him. Looking back on it now, Tubbo thinks that it was probably the moment when everything started to go downhill.

Techno only got better from there. He didn't always beat Phil, but it became obvious that it wasn't just a one time occurrence. He was truly a prodigy, and Phil couldn't have been more proud. He even brought him a shiny diamond sword for his 13th birthday, custom made just for him. Wilbur got a new sweater and a beanie, and though he hid it well, Tubbo could tell that he was jealous. 

Even before Techno had started beating Phil in sparring, it was obvious to the boys that he was Phil’s favorite. It made sense. Phil was a wanderer and an adventurer at heart, and he had been around long enough to live through his fair share of violence and combat. When he found that one of his sons had a talent for the sword like he did, and the intelligence to match, it was no wonder that he was drawn to him. 

It was obvious that Techno had always been Phil’s favorite, and that was fine. They were all still family, and they all still loved and cared for each other. But then, Techno was 13, and he wanted to participate in a tournament. And of course, Phil let him. And naturally, Phil had to go with him to make sure that it all went well and to supervise him. And so, the responsibility of taking care of Tommy and Tubbo, both 7 at the time, fell onto Wilbur’s shoulders. 

On the day that they left for the tournament, Tubbo remembers standing at the door, wishing them good luck. He remembers watching Techno, with his diamond sword hanging at his side, and his glasses high on his nose, and his pink hair tied back. He remembers Phil hugging them all, ruffling his hair with a short “Be back soon, kids.” 

It didn't feel like it should be a big deal. It was just their father accompanying their brother to a tournament after all. But as the two of them left, Tubbo couldn't help but feel like something had changed.

It wasn't an overwhelming feeling, something that he couldn't ignore, but something more slow, creeping up on him. He couldn't shake the feeling that something was off, even as Wilbur made and served them their dinner.

The house was quieter without Techno and Phil there, even though they weren’t particularly loud when they were there. It was different, and Tubbo wasn’t quite sure if he liked it or not. They passed the days as they normally did, going out to the village and conversing with the villagers, playing in the woods. But then it was Wilbur who made dinner instead of Phil, and Wilbur who told them stories to fall asleep to, and Wilbur who woke them up in the morning to make breakfast. It was strange, and while it wasn’t unbearable, Tubbo was glad that the tournament was only a few days long. 

Techno and Phil returned within the week, and they brought with them a trophy and large smiles set upon their faces. Even Techno, usually so stoic, was grinning from ear to ear as they stood in the entryway, telling his siblings about their adventures. Tubbo didn’t think that he’d ever seen Techno so happy. 

They left for the next tournament within the month. The feeling in Tubbo’s chest only grew. 

***

Tubbo had always been good with emotions. He understood people and how they felt. It was just natural for him. But he didn’t realize how good with emotions he was until people started trying to hide them from him.

Techno and Phil had been leaving more and more often for different tournaments and events in different lands and servers. Wilbur, Tommy, and Tubbo were sometimes invited along, but more often than not, they stayed at home, and it was left to Wilbur to take care of them. It was on one of these occasions that Wilbur was telling Tommy and Tubbo a bedtime story, the both of them in their beds in their shared room. 

As he was finishing the story, closing the book as he stood and turned towards the door to leave, Tommy spoke up. “Do you think that dad cares about us anymore?” he’d asked, his voice loud in the quiet room. 

Wilbur froze, and so did Tubbo. Tommy was obviously tired and drowsy. He wouldn’t have said what he had otherwise, but either way, the question had been asked. 

When he turned back towards the two of them, Wilbur had a smile on his face, his eyes happy. “Of course he still cares about you Tommy,” he’d said, sitting down near their beds again, “And me and Tubbo too.” 

Tubbo heard Tommy sniffle, and looked over to see that he had tears in his eyes as he looked up at his older brother. “But he’s never home anymore. He and Techno are always off at tournaments. And even when he is here, it’s not like it used to be. Sometimes, it’s like he doesn’t even remember we’re here!” Tommy took in a wet breath, trying to calm himself down. “I just miss them,” he said, his voice wobbling. 

Wilbur took in a deep breath, taking Tommy’s hand in one of his own, and grabbing Tubbo’s with the other. He smiled at them. “I know that you both miss them a lot, and I do too. But just because they’re not here doesn’t mean that they don’t care about us anymore. They’re our family, and family doesn’t just stop loving each other, even when they aren’t nearby. So we’re going to go to bed, and then tomorrow morning we can greet them when they come back, and we can all go out and do something together, as a family, alright?” 

Tommy sniffled again as a few tears slipped out of his eyes. “But what if they don’t come back?” He asked. “Maybe they will this time, but what about next time? Or the time after that? Every trip is longer, and maybe one time they won’t come back.” 

And Wilbur grips his hand tighter and looks into his eyes, the calm smile still on his face, as he tells them “They always come back, silly! They’ll come back this time, and they’ll come back next time too. Because they’re our family, and real family always comes back eventually.” 

And when he said that, even though there was a smile on his face, Tubbo could tell that he didn’t mean it. He wanted to mean it, but he didn’t _know_ , and he was lying lying _lying_. 

Tommy wiped his face with his arm, smiling back at Wilbur as he settled back down in his bed, turning over and closing his eyes. “Love you, Wilbur,” he said, his voice soft and drowsy, his breathing evening out even as he spoke. “Love you too, Toms. And you, Tubbo.” He said, squeezing their hands before he let them go, standing up to leave again. 

Tubbo hesitated for a moment, not knowing whether he wanted to say anything or not, but he took a deep breath and looked up at Wilbur as he walked towards the door. 

“It’s ok for you to be sad, Wilbur,” he said quietly as Wilbur reached the doorway. “You’re his son too.” He looked back, and for a moment, his eyes were wide in surprise, his mouth open slightly. And then the look of surprise was gone, and the smile was back on his face, though it was smaller than before, a little more honest. Tubbo noticed that this one didn’ t quite reach his eyes. 

“Go to bed, Tubbo,” he’d said, turning back around and leaving the room, closing the door behind him. 

Tubbo did. 

***

The universe seemed to have a great sense of humor. At least, that was Tubbo’s first thought when Techno and Phil had told them that they were leaving less than a month after the conversation they’d had that night. And not just for another tournament. No, this time, they were going far, far away, to a new land with new people.

“A friend of ours told us about it while we were at Hypixel,” Phil had told them over dinner that night. “A new area of land was just discovered, and people are racing to come in and claim it. So we thought that we’d give it a go, see if we can’t make a name for ourselves out there, or at least a greater name than we had before.” 

He was looking at the three of them, a smile on his face. It was almost as if he hadn’t just told them exactly what they hadn’t wanted to hear. Tubbo had stopped eating as soon as he’d heard the words come out of Phil’s lips, and he still hadn’t quite processed exactly what it was that he was saying. 

He looked over to Tommy, seeing that he was in a similar state of shock, mouth hung open and spoon dropped carelessly back into his bowl of soup. He was staring wide eyed at his father and brother, looking between them as if trying to gauge if this was real or some sort of elaborate prank they were trying to pull. 

Looking over at Wilbur, though, he saw that his face was less shocked and more… something else. His eyes were wide, and his mouth was open in surprise, but he didn’t look confused, like Tommy. Tubbo quietly reached over, grabbing Wilbur’s hand under the table, squeezing it as Phil continued to talk about whatever this new place was that they were going to. 

The first thing he felt as Wilbur squeezed back was the feeling of surprise. And then behind that there was confusion, and sadness, and anger, and Tubbo saw that Wilbur felt _Betrayed_. And then Tubbo was zoning back into the conversation, and Phil was still talking, saying something about how “we can’t bring you with us, but we’ll make sure to write as often as we can once we settle in, and we can arrange to come visit too,” and all Tubbo felt was a wave of anger before Wilbur’s hand was ripped from his.

“So what, you’re just going to leave? For how long?” he asked, the first time someone other than Phil had spoken since he’d dropped this metaphorical bomb atop their heads. His voice was raised, and his eyes and face were hardened and closed off.

Phil was taken aback for a moment, but recovered quickly enough. “I don’t know, but I would assume maybe a few months. Conquering new land takes time,” he told them, still smiling, though smaller than before. 

“And we’re just going to stay here, alone?” Wilbur asked, his fists clenched. 

“Well, you’ve seemed to manage just fine so far. We won’t be gone forever, and we’ll visit as often as we can, too! And once we’ve settled in and we’re sure that it’s safe, you all can come stay with us too.” 

“And why can’t we do that now? Why can’t we come with you?” 

“It’s going to be dangerous, Wilbur. Tommy and Tubbo won’t be safe there, they can’t protect themselves. And they need someone to watch over them while we’re gone.” 

“So that’s all I am? A glorified babysitter?” Wilbur asked, glaring at Phil, waiting for him to answer. 

“You know that’s not what I mean,” Phil said, his own tone beginning to harden.

“Well then what do you mean?” 

“Wil, you’re my son! Of course I care about you.” 

“Well, it’s hard to tell when you’re not even around half the time,” Wilbur shot back, waving his arms wildly. 

“Ok, that was a low blow,” Techno interrupted, finally speaking up. “You know why we’re always travelling.” 

“Yeah, for _your_ tournaments! Don’t act like you’re blameless in all of this!” 

“Oh, now it’s my fault? Well, sorry that I’m doing something that I enjoy. I’ll make sure to choose a talent less travel oriented in my next life.” 

Tubbo watched the argument, listening as his family threw words back and forth at each other, only getting more and more upset. And then, his focus was broken by a tugging on his sleeve. Looking over, he saw Tommy, Tubbo tapped Tommy on the shoulder, grabbing his attention as he slid out of the chair. He quietly motioned for him to follow, and with one last glance back, he hopped off of his chair as well. They both padded quietly out of the room, making their way up the stairs to their shared room, closing the door behind them. 

They sat in silence for a while, curled up together on the floor between their beds. At some point, one of them had grabbed a blanket and pulled it over their shoulders. They could still hear yelling from down in the kitchen, but the words themselves were muffled by the door. 

Tubbo realized that he hadn’t heard Tommy this quiet before. It was strange, but he couldn’t bring himself to break the tense silence. Instead, he grabbed Tommy’s hand, feeling as the sadness and the anger in his head calmed down at his touch. 

For a long time they just sat there together, until there was a slam downstairs as the yelling stopped. Then, there were heavy footsteps rushing up the stairs, and they stopped outside the door as it creaked open. Wilbur poked his head through, quickly finding the two of them on the floor. His face was red, and his breathing was still heavy, but his eyes were apologetic. 

He came into the room, shutting the door softly behind him and making his way over to the two of them. Tommy lifted the blanket up, and Wilbur took the invitation, taking a seat with them and wrapping his arms around them.

"I'm sorry that you both had to see that." He told them, hugging them a little closer. Tubbo could tell that he was genuine by the way that regret and sadness flowed through him. 

"It's ok," he told Wilbur. "It's not your fault." 

Wilbur let out a deep sigh. "Yeah," he said, "and it's not either of yours either." 

They sat there on the floor together long into the night. Eventually, Wilbur put a disk into the jukebox in the corner. They didn't talk, they didn't really need to, they just tried to relax, letting the calming tones of "cat" wash over them and lull them to sleep.

Techno and Phil left within the week.

***

They waited a week and a half for the first letter to arrive. When it did come, the three of them had huddled together at the table to read it. It had detailed their journey to the new lands, a place dubbed _SMP Earth_. Apparently, they had made it there and were searching for a place to settle themselves. 

Though it was nice to hear from them, it's a little bittersweet. The house always seems tense on letter days, as Tubbo dubbs them. There are so many mixed feelings, and Tubbo can always feel them following Tommy and Wilbur. Anger, resentment, sadness. Those days are often marked by emotions boiling over, and it eventually culminates to the three of them listening to "cat" or "mellohi" together. 

A few months after Phil and Techno had left, they received a letter from them telling them about the foundations they'd made for a new nation. _The Antarctic Empire_ is what they had called it, and it was seemingly going well. So well, in fact, that they’d found the time to come back and visit them for a few days. 

On the one hand, Tubbo was ecstatic. It had been months since he’d seen the two of them, and he had missed them. But on the other hand, he was also apprehensive. While he missed them, it didn’t change the fact that they had just _left._ It didn’t change the feelings of resentment or sadness that would clog up the house on letter days. And if it was that bad when they were only speaking to them through letters, he could only imagine how tense it would be if they were there in person. 

Nevertheless, the week of their visit home drew nearer and nearer. Time seemed to pass both too slow and too fast at the same time. And within the month, there was a knock on the front door before it creaked open. 

The first thing that Tubbo noted about his pseudo father and brother was that they looked different. The most notable difference was certainly their clothes, thick and blue, suited for the cold climate that they’d apparently decided to settle in. But there were other smaller differences as well. Both of their hair was getting longer, and he could see that Techno had gained a new scar somehow in the time that he’d been gone. They both looked tired, but not worn, the bags under their eyes matched with a spark of happiness and smiles on their faces. 

The greeting had gone well, surprisingly. They had hugged, and talked about how much they missed each other. Techno and Phil told them about the goings on in _SMP Earth_ , and in exchange Tommy, Tubbo, and Wilbur caught them up on the goings-on in the village. They had joked around and talked about old friends, and everything was fine. Tubbo actually had hope that this family visit would end well. 

That is, he had hope up until dinner. 

After some time of talking, Wilbur had gotten himself up from the couch and started to head for the kitchen. “Where do you think you’re going? We’ve still got more to talk about!” Phil had asked jokingly. 

“Oh, I’m just going to get dinner started,” Wilbur said, looking back as he disappeared through the doorway. “Don’t mind me, you all can keep talking.”

For a moment Phil looked over towards the door, his expression unreadable. Then, he stood, ruffling his wings a little. “Here, let me help you out.” 

When Phil too shuffled out of view, Tommy resumed the dramatic story he was telling to Techno about the ‘adventure’ he’d taken through the woods a few weeks ago. Tubbo, who had already heard this story at least twice, turned his eyes back towards the doorway, too curious to just let this go. Quietly, he slipped off the couch, padding over to the kitchen as well. 

Looking in, he saw Wilbur standing over a cutting board, a pot already heating up on the stove, presumably for stew of some sort. He saw that Phil was there too, standing next to Wilbur, and it seemed that he was trying to have some sort of conversation. Tubbo skirted the edge of the kitchen, trying to stay out of sight and get close enough to hear the two of them. 

It was Phil that he heard first. “-I just want to help.” 

“Well, that’s nice, but I don’t need your help,” Wilbur said back. His voice was calm, but the clipped tone betrayed his real feelings on the subject. “I’m doing just fine on my own, thank you.”

Phil sighed. “Look,” he started, “I know that this isn’t just about dinner. And I know that you’re upset with us for leaving. But trust me when I say that there’s reason in what we do, and in why we left you all here. And trust me when I say that I still care about you all just as much as I do about Techno.” 

Wilbur’s shoulders sagged, and he let out a deep breath. “If this is an apology, I still don’t forgive you,” he said, “but for the sake of relative peace for the next few days, you can help with dinner. Could you get a few plates out? And silverware for the table?”

Phil nodded, giving a short _sure_ as he moved over towards the cabinets. He opened the first one, and Tubbo watched as his brows furrowed and his wings rustled for a moment before he closed the cabinet and moved onto the next. It was when he was on the third cabinet that he finally seemed to give up, turning to look at Wilbur. 

“Which cabinet are they in?” he asked, and Wilbur stopped chopping up vegetables to look at him. 

“You don’t even remember,” he scoffed, turning back around and going back to chopping vegetables, albeit a bit more aggressively than before. 

“Wil-”

“No, it’s fine,” he gritted out. “They’re in the cabinet to the right of the sink. The silverware is in the drawer below it.”

Phil, at the very least, had the sense to look guilty as he looked in the cabinet, taking out the dishes and shuffling past Wilbur, setting them down on the table. 

After a moment more of tense silence, Tubbo inched his way back out of the room, going back to Techno and Tommy. Techno noticed his quiet approach, but he only nodded in his direction, not saying anything about catching him snooping around. Tommy, on the other hand, was completely immersed in the next story, waving his arms animatedly as he spoke. 

Dinner itself was a relatively quiet affair. Even Tommy could sense the tense air around Wilbur and Phil, and nobody wanted to be the one to break the tension if they could help it. After dinner was quiet too, but luckily in a more relaxed way. The five of them all went to bed in their respective rooms not long after though. 

The rest of the week proceeded much like the first night. Things would be tense, but fine. And then suddenly they would be reminded that this was only temporary. That things weren’t like they were before. 

It was just simple things. When they went out to the market and they had forgotten which stalls they normally visited, or the names of the vendors. When they didn’t recognize the new sweets at Niki’s bakery. When they were surprised by the new additions Tubbo had made to the beehive. They were just simple things, and it shouldn’t have been that big of a deal, but Tubbo couldn’t help but just see them as reminders that they _hadn’t been there_. 

The only real break in the schedule was on the last night, before the two of them had to leave again. The day itself had proceeded as normal, but that night, Tubbo couldn’t seem to get a wink of sleep. He didn’t know if it was the stress of having to deal with the tenseness of the house, or the anxiety over Phil and Techno leaving the next day. 

Either way, it must have been at least midnight when he slipped out of bed and went down the stairs. He didn’t know what it was exactly he was going to do down there, but it was better than staring up at his ceiling for another half hour at least. 

What he hadn’t expected was to find Techno sitting up in the living room, reading through a well worn book by candlelight as the embers of the fireplace nearby slowly died out. Tubbo hadn’t exactly been discreet as he had come down the stairs, so Techno spotted him almost as soon as his feet landed on the hardwood floors. They stared at each other for a moment, frozen, before Techno waved a hand at him silently. 

“Can’t sleep?” he asked. 

Tubbo shook his head quietly. 

Techno huffed, looking back to his book. “Me neither,” he told him, patting the seat on the couch next to him. 

Tubbo approached slowly, hopping up onto the couch next to him and looking over his shoulder. “What’re you reading?” he asked. Techno looked over at him for a moment before looking back at the words. “It’s a book of Greek Mythology. A bunch of old stories. I think that they’re pretty interesting.”

There was silence for a few more moments before Techno interrupted it again. “You know, Tommy was named after a Greek hero. Theseus.” Tubbo perked up a bit at that. Even though he’d known Tommy for a long time, even though he was practically his best friend, he hadn’t known this. 

“Yeah, it was his birth name. The name he’d had when Phil found him. But he didn’t like it very much. Said that it wasn’t really him. That he much preferred Tommy. So that’s what he’s always gone by.”

They were quiet for a little while longer, sitting in a comfortable silence. “You know, I’m sorry,” Techno started. “That things turned out like this. That you all got left behind.” 

And pressed up shoulder to shoulder, Tubbo could tell, even through the weird muddle of Techno’s head, that he was genuine. 

“I don’t think you have to,” Tubbo told him, “not really. I mean, you’re only as old as Wilbur. It’s not your fault.” 

Techno looks at him for a moment, quietly. “Sure,” he says, looking back towards his book. “Alright.”

“Would you read to me from your book?” Tubbo asked. Techno huffed, but nodded, as Tubbo settled into a comfortable position. 

“Orpheus was a talented musician, son of the muse Calliope. He was a master of the lyre, and he played and sang to audiences from near and afar. It was at one of these gatherings where he met a wood nymph, a girl called Eurydice. She was enamored by his voice, just as he had been enamored by her beauty, and they soon fell deeply and truly in love.”

Tubbo fell asleep that night to the sound of his brother’s voice. Unfortunately, he didn’t get to hear the end of the story. But the next day, after they had all said their goodbyes, he was pleasantly surprised to find the old, worn out copy of Greek myths sitting on his bed, a dog-eared page marking the beginning of the story of Orpheus and Eurydice. 

***

It wasn’t much longer after that when the letters started tapering off. It started off slow, two weeks in between letters instead of a week and a half. Then soon enough it was three weeks. Then, it was a month between letters. They had visited once or twice more, but only for a few days each time. There was no sign of them coming back permanently in the near future, or of them coming to the Antarctic empire. 

The last letter that they received from Techno and Phil was towards the beginning of the new year. _We have a new plan_ _for world domination,_ the letter had said _. We want to take over the whole SMP, and we might just be able to do it. But it will probably take time, and resources. This may be the last letter we send to you for a while. Please take care of yourselves._

And after that, they waited. Two weeks, then three, then a month, and then two months. Two months and still nothing from them. It was horrible. Tubbo couldn’t help but think of all of the terrible things that could’ve happened to them. What if they were captured by another faction, or what if they had been killed in their plot for world domination? Would they ever know if they had? Even though they weren’t around all that often, Tubbo had already lost enough family for his liking. He was hardly sleeping, and when he was it was fitful and tense. 

It wasn’t until after they celebrated Tommy’s birthday that they heard from them again. It was a short letter, something something world domination, something persecuted for their war crimes, something something giving most of the land back. But the gist of it was that there were still things to be done, still more negotiations to be made, and so they wouldn’t be coming back for a little while longer. 

“You know what,” Wilbur had said after they’d finished reading the letter. “I’m done with this.” The older boy pushed back from his chair, nearly knocking it over with the force, and rushed off towards his room. Tommy and Tubbo looked at each other, brows furrowed, but followed behind anyways, too curious to just let him go. 

They followed Wilbur back towards his own room, where he pushed open the door and pulled out a bag. “What do you mean you’re done Wil?” Tommy asked, watching as their older brother began pulling out clothes and shoving them into the bag. 

“I mean that I’m done sitting around in this house and wasting away while Techno and Phil are just off actually doing something with their lives,” he told them, throwing a few of the trinkets from his desk into the bag as well. “If they’re just going to leave, then so can we.” 

Tommy watched Wilbur with wide eyes. “Wha- Leave?” 

Wilbur grabbed his jacket and slung it over his shoulders as he walked over to them, putting his hands on their shoulders. “Let’s leave. We can finally get out of this house. We won’t just have to sit here waiting for Phil and Techno to come back anymore. We can find our own place to stay.” 

And Tubbo felt the determination and the hope that Wilbur felt in his chest, and he knew that he was serious about this. And when he looked at Tommy, he didn’t have to be touching him to know that he would follow Wilbur to the ends of the earth. And wherever Tommy went, so would he, just like he always had. 

And so, two weeks after Tommy’s thirteenth birthday, the three of them packed up their stuff and said goodbye to their house. They walked through the town and said goodbye to the few vendors they saw. They stopped by Niki’s bakery, and Wilbur told her that he would keep in touch. She told them that if they ever found a place, she would be their first visitor. And she would make sure to bring plenty of cakes with her. 

And even though they slept in a small cave off the side of the road that night, with the warmth of a fire at his back and the gentle tune of Wilbur playing “cat” on his guitar, he slept better than he had in days.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for the comments and kudos! I'm glad that some of you enjoyed it and are looking forward to more. 
> 
> I've already gotten the next chapter started, but it might take a while to get out because of school and stuff, so it'll probably be another two weeks or so. And there'll probably be two or so chapters more of stuff like this before the main plot starts as well.
> 
> Either way, hope that you all enjoyed, and thank you for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic, I hope you liked it! 
> 
> Just for clarification, the people in this fic are all characters based off of CCs online personas within these role play series. They are not the real creators and everything that takes place in this story is completely fictional. If any of the CCs are uncomfortable with anything that happens in the fic, I'll change it/take it down.
> 
> I probably won't be updating this regularly, but I hope I can get chapters out at least once every week or two. 
> 
> Thank you for reading!


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